1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to modular plugs for connecting a plurality of electric wires and harnessed modular plugs and, more particularly, to a modular plug for connecting a plurality of high-speed transmission wires and a harnessed modular plug.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modular jacks and plugs are used for telephone facilities or local area network (LAN). When a modular plug is plugged into a modular jack, the terminals thereof are brought into contact with each other for electrical connection. The arranging pitch of the terminals is specified to be 1.016 mm by the standards. As a result, the modular plug is provided with a device for arranging wires with such an arranging pitch.
Japanese patent application Kokai No. 10-506751 discloses a modular plug with an arranging device and a harnessed modular plug such as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. A modular plug 1 comprises a guide plate 6 for arranging four pairs of wires 2-2', 3-3', 4-4', and 5-5', a housing 7 for receiving the guide plate 6, and a plurality of terminals 8. The wires 2-2', 3-3', 4-4', and 5-5' are twisted for each pair and covered by an insulating sheath to enhance the electric characteristics. Eight guide apertures 9 are provided in the guide plate 6 in a zigzag fashion in two rows. A plurality of terminal slots 10 extend downwardly from the upper face of the front portion of the housing 7.
To assemble the modular plug 1 and the harnessed modular plug, the front portions of each pair of the wires 2-2', 3-3', 4-4', or 5-5' are stripped of a length of the insulating sheath, untwisted, and inserted into the guide apertures 9 such that the wires are arranged in such an order as shown in FIG. 13; i.e., from left, the third pair 4-4', one of the second pair 3, the first pair 2-2', the other of the second pair 3', and the fourth pair 5-5'. The guide plate 6 is then fitted into the housing 7, and the terminals 8 are inserted into the terminal slots 10 to pierce into the respective wires 2-5' for electrical connection while the upper ends of the terminals 8 are exposed in the terminal slots 10.
However, the wires of each pair are arranged in different rows, especially, the wires 3-3' of the second pair are spaced apart in the different rows, making the wiring work difficult and requiring much labor in assembling the modular plug. The distance between the wires 3 and 3' is so large that the length of untwisted wires becomes large, making it difficult to minimize the crosstalk and/or attenuation.